N.C. mourns 4 killed in crash of air tanker fighting Western wildfires

By the CNN Wire Staff

Updated 4:42 PM ET, Tue July 3, 2012

Photos: Wildfires devastate Western states51 photos

Wildfires devastate Western states – A firefighter works a burnout operation on the north flank of the Fontenelle Fire outside Big Piney, Wyoming, on Wednesday, July 4. More than 800 firefighters are working 15-hour shifts battling the fire that has exceeded 56,000 acres, according to fire information services.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Trees smolder and burn on the north flank of the Fontenelle Fire. The crews are working and sleeping close to the fire in an effort to contain it.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Firefighter Ryan Christian sits with his crew from Alaska before heading out to fight the Fontenelle Fire outside Big Piney. The blaze, burning in dead and thick stands of timber, started on June 24 and is 15% contained.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Firefighter Alex Abols monitors fire on the north flank of the Fontenelle Fire outside Big Piney. Record fire danger and long stretches of the red flag warning days have made it challenging to control.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A utilities worker walks past the skeleton of a vehicle on Monday, July 2, while searching for gas leaks in a Colorado Springs community ravaged by the Waldo Canyon Fire.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – An American flag waves Monday in front of a house leveled by the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs. Residents began returnning to the area on Sunday after the fire forced thousands of people from their homes.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The words "We Will Rebuild" are seen written on the sidewalk in front of a house in Colorado Springs that was destroyed by the fire.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Fire-destroyed homes are seen in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs, where hundreds of residents were given an eight-hour window to visit their properties on Sunday, July 1.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A jogger on Sunday looks out over neighborhoods in Colorado Springs that were evacuated due to the Waldo Canyon Fire. The massive fire has destroyed hundreds of homes and forced more than 32,000 people to flee.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Frank Baker visits the remains of his brother's home in Bellvue, Colorado, on Saturday, June 30. The house was burned to the ground in the High Park Fire.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Homes destroyed by the Waldo Canyon Fire are seen from the air in a Colorado Springs neighborhood on Saturday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Damaged cars line the curb in front of ruined houses in Colorado Springs.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The line of fire damage is clearly visible in this Colorado Springs neighborhood.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Smoke billows at sunrise from part of the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – One home stands surrounded by others destroyed by the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs on Saturday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Homes burned to the ground by the Waldo Canyon fire are seen in a neighborhood in Colorado Springs on Saturday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The fire, which has burned more than 15,000 acres, began spreading to the southwestern corner of the Air Force Academy in the early morning, causing base officials to evacuate residents.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – President Barack Obama tours fire damage with elected officials and firefighters in the Mountain Shadows residential neighborhood in Colorado Springs on Friday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Firefighters get ready to tackle the Waldo Canyon Fire on Friday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A house is engulfed in flames as fire crews fight to contain it at the Rose Crest fire in Herriman, Utah, on Friday, June 29. Crews are fighting to contain six separate blazes in the state.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A pig is evacuated in a wheelbarrow from the Ching Family Animal Refuge in Herriman, Utah, as the wildfires worsen on Friday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Melissa Bowman, a CNN iReporter from Big Piney, Wyoming, captures the Fontenelle Fire close to her home as she waits for an evacuation notice.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A camp for firefighters is set up at Holmes Middle School in Colorado Springs on Thursday, June 28. The Waldo Canyon Fire has scorched more than 16,700 acres.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A partially burned home smolders Thursday in Colorado Springs.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The line where the Waldo Canyon Fire stopped moving east is seen from the air in Colorado Springs. Lower temperatures and lighter winds helped firefighters on Thursday in the battle against the fire.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – An aerial view of a destroyed neighborhood in the aftermath of the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The Waldo Canyon fire spreads through a neighborhood in the hills above Colorado Springs on June 26. See more photos at The Denver Post.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Hazy smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire looms behind the Air Force Academy stadium on Wednesday, June 27, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The fire expanded to 15,000 acres. More than 32,000 people have been evacuated.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Susan Custer and her husband, Gary Custer, watch the Waldo Canyon Fire on Wednesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – At dawn on Tuesday, firefighters stir from their tents at a camp near Holmes Middle School.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Smoke billows from the Waldo Canyon Fire west of Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Evacuees drive under a shroud of smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – J'Amie Sirvaitis of Colorado Springs watches the Waldo Canyon Fire after winds pushed the fire into the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Residents of Colorado Springs watch as the Waldo Canyon Fire burns a home in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire engulfs Interstate 25 north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, as the blaze burns out of control Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A large plume of smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire fills the sky west of Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Jan Stone, right, comforts Angela Morgan as smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire pours over the Mountain Shadows neighborhood of Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A portion of the Waldo Canyon Fire moves across a hillside above a subdivision west of Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Colorado State Patrol and Colorado Department of Transportation personnel set up a roadblock west of Manitou Springs, Colorado, on Monday, June 25.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A portion of the Waldo Canyon fire burns out of control in the hills west of Manitou Springs on Monday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Trees burn on a ridge above Cedar Heights in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on June 24.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Greg and Karen Bodine help her father, Duane Schormann, left, load his animals into a trailer near Colorado Springs as they evacuate the area June 24.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The High Park Fire, which was 45% contained as of June 23, has destroyed 191 homes west of Fort Collins.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The High Park Fire rages through the forest west of Fort Collins, Colorado, on June 19.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Local resident Dwayne Crawford looks out at the High Park Fire from his home west of Fort Collins on June 19.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A heavy air tanker drops fire retardant on the blaze June 19. Its growth potential was "extreme," according to authorities.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Flames scorched this area outside of Fort Collins where the High Park Fire has burned out, June 19.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A helicopter drops water over the Wood Hollow Fire north of Fairview, Utah, on Tuesday, June 26

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A wall of fire makes its way down a hillside toward a farm north of Fairview, Utah, on Tuesday, June 26. The Wood Hollow Fire, one of at least three wildfires burning in Utah, has grown to nearly 39,000 acres.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Smoldering earth and damage from the Dump Fire, which began June 21, can be seen outside a plant near Saratoga Springs, Utah, on Saturday, June 23.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Burned-out terrain from the Dump Fire fills a hillside near Saratoga Springs, Utah on Saturday.

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Story highlights

North Carolina lowers flags to half-staff to honor the dead

Fires have burned in Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, Utah, Wyoming and South Dakota

This year, 1.9 million acres have burned in wildfires, federal agency says

Two other crew members of an Air Force plane are injured in the crash, a hospital says

Thousands of miles from raging Western wildfires, North Carolina lowered its flags to half-staff Tuesday to honor four crew members of a U.S. military firefighting plane who were killed in a weekend crash.

The tanker crashed Sunday night in the Black Hills of South Dakota where it was dropping flame retardant on the White Draw Fire north of Edgemont, the U.S. Northern Command said.

Six North Carolina National Guard members were aboard the C-130, part of an eight-plane fleet battling wildfires that have burned hundreds of thousands of acres.

The four fatalities were National Guard members, said the National Interagency Coordination Center. They were identified as Lt. Col. Paul K. Mikeal, 42, of Mooresville, N.C.; Maj. Joseph M. McCormick, 36, of Belmont, N.C., Maj. Ryan S. David, 35, of Boone, N.C.; and Senior Master Sgt. Robert S. Cannon, 50, of Charlotte.

The identities of the two survivors, who were in critical condition, were not released. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

The military suspended its aerial firefighting operations after the crash to review flying and safety procedures, but said it was resuming operations Tuesday.

On Saturday, a smiling Mikeal told reporters that he was looking forward to helping out in the effort to quell the growing fires.

One of the worst has been the Waldo Canyon Fire, which last week roared down a mountain and razed nearly 350 homes in western neighborhoods of Colorado Springs.

Firefighters reported more gains Monday, saying they had stopped the fires' growth and were working on putting out hot spots within its charred 17,920-acre footprint.

A day later, the fire had not budged, said Tim Johnson, a public information officer with the interagency management team. "That's still the acreage, and a containment of 70%," he told CNN in a telephone interview. "By the end of the day, I would expect that number to increase."

Of the 32,000 people who were evacuated, 30,000 will have been allowed to return home by 6 p.m. Tuesday, leaving 2,000 still shut out, he said. "Sadly, about half of those, of course, are to homes that are no longer there."

The cost of fighting the fire has exceeded $12 million, he said, adding that estimates of the replacement cost for the homes destroyed exceed $103 million. In all, 1,581 personnel were fighting the fire, he said.

The most destructive fire in state history, it killed two people, destroyed 346 homes and damaged dozens more.